How fast does it take to level a bard to 60?

[Tunabros]

Looking to learn how to barding

Currently have a human bard (no twink gear etc) only level 1

I have no clue on "strafing" , "twisting" and "Swarm Kiting"

Any good guides on the internet?

Thanks for reading

[Sizar]

https://wiki.project1999.com/Player_Guides

[Tunabros]

Gee thanks

[branamil]

Didnt' read

[Jibartik]

Try youtube, there are some great videos there I am sure I used this one heh

edit: actually come to think of it I've never seen anyone aoe kite from that camera angle before 🤔

t-Lm6k2pvZQ

[Sizar]

Create your song macros like this:

/stopsong
/cast 1

etc.

This macro removes literally half your button pushing. Wish I would have known this in '99

[JDAm0nk]

Create your song macros like this:

/stopsong
/cast 1

etc.

This macro removes literally half your button pushing. Wish I would have known this in '99

I feel like this is next to impossible on Green currently, unless you enjoy changing your hotbar every single time you zone.

I've been playing a bard recently and I'm having a blast. I had to stop swarming because I felt that I was leveling too fast and I enjoy the process more than the end-game P99 experience.

Check out:

"Bard can go 0-60 in less than 100hrs of game with a store bought drum, lute, flute and horn. Also sow pots help but aren’t necessary.

Below guide is assuming you don’t suck at swarming:

Human Rallos zek bard Qeynos
Lvl 1-12
Water quest, Qeynos : Time maybe 45 minutes cost 60plat at most

Lvl 12-18
Orc Alley, Oasis : priests don’t social time maybe 1-1.5hr
Wisps,Grizzlies,spiders, NK: not as good as orc alley but maybe 2-3hrs
PRO ONLY, yard and CE, unrest: stupid fast maybe 45-1hr

Lvl 18-27
PRO ONLY Iksar exiles, Swamp o NH: 9 lvl 23 mobs on 5-6min timer few hrs to 27 takes less than 15 seconds to pull.
Birds,cactii,Sarnaks, goblins, OT/LOIO: lots of mobs varying lvls, longer pulls, plenty of room to kite on par with above slightly slower.

Lvls 27-34&34-46
Drolvarg savages, growlers: PULL ALL the savages and growlers starting on SE ledge winding up toward NE corner (Invis with sow to just social pull and avoid shaman goblins)
27-34 will take maybe 3 pulls of 50ish mobs
33+ start adding the drolvarg snarlers to your kite.
Collect all the teeth(you will get several stacks) turn them in when you hit 45 to get most of not all of the hell level. Whole process takes maybe 8-12hrs.

Lvl 47-54:

Loio: you can drum dot all 12 BG goblins before respawns on a 13 min timer using snare, 3 dots and fear move to pulling next mob when 3rd dot lands and mob is under 18% hp, virtually risk free leveling close to 40% per hr, Honestly almost as fast as swarming and you get your swimming up!
Hhk: you can drum dot nobles right on up to til lvl 54 risk free second one will die before first respawns. Maybe 18-24hrs to 46-54? BGs faster til 51 this camp always taken but if you get it it’s fire.
Drolvargs, petrified birds,skeleton camp, DL: pull to east wall swarm down longish pulls trying to get just the blues! Good til 57
Bees,skeletons, BW: long pull bring back to SF zoneline swarm down I hate this zone but solid xp(tip leave a corpse at the SF zoneline opening to locate corpse and find your way back easy!) good til 57

54-57
Two from above
Raptors, TD: 15 blues on a 12 min timer! Nice swarm and afk exp avg of 10% hr til 57. Pull by tagging single on big island behind cliff, selos song of travel to small island socialing everything loop around to big island again and grab rest! Pbaoe snare and twist your two dots! Speed things up by target cycling through the viscious also hitting them with chant of flame for 33% of dmg to each.(Pro tip if Dinus spawns charm him and throw him at your social pack they will eat him down to 15-30% hp)

57-60
PRO only, Velks: if anyone tells you to swarm here before lvl 57 slap them, you will not consistently land snare on all the spiders until lvl 57 without DA song this is kinda sketchy message me and I can show you how in game. Do not impede others camps, Communication with others is key 15-30% an hr avg to 60 depending on your skill and how empty it is.
DN spiders: slower than velks but still very solid pull front then back set off traps for extra spiders avoid construct bone traps, this is usually considered one camp and bards have pretty much taken it over great exp til 60 as well.

Ding 60 and now you can go raid this weekend, hope ole Wallis guide helps!"

from: https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=332961&highlight=bard+qeynos+human

To get a hang of swarm kiting, it's easy to gather a swarm of fire beetles in the Qeynos newbie yard and you don't need Selos or SoW. Afterwards, beetles in NK and NRo are a good next step.

If you haven't done it before, the camp recommended above in the Swamp of No Hope is crazy XP and just a cool spot. I did 21-27 there in a single day of casually playing.

[Tunabros]

wow that's an amazing guide man!

thank you so much!

[Keebz]

FWIW, I highly suggest JBoots and some reasonable armor/hp gear though both not strictly necessary. You should also probably pick up a lev cloak before they rework the QM mechanic.

Charm kiting is also a good option. Esp. for 46-51 at the bloodgills in LOIO.

[Sizar]

I feel like this is next to impossible on Green currently, unless you enjoy changing your hotbar every single time you zone.


It's not all that bad. I have my 1-8 hotkeys as the 1-8 songs memmed. You have to click and drag from your socials tab #7 and #8. Then i drag over sit and a macro that is just /stopsong

Overall takes like 5 seconds on zone, and only when in the zone you are going to be leveling.

[Ennewi]

Beetles in NK are probably the best for beginners to try swarming out on. They're slow, social aggro, and can be AE dotted from a safe distance. You can pull them over to the side of the wizard spires closer towards WK for a flat surface with no pathers. Use the cluster of trees as a guide for the circle you'll be maintaining. The number of princers, borers, and scythes seems to vary by a lot from respawn to respawn though. Sometimes that means having to kill a mass of green con piincers and only a few blues. Orc highway is better overall, but then there can be quite a few casters among them, not to mention dunes that make it difficult to see pathers and ghouls that root.

[JDAm0nk]

It's not all that bad. I have my 1-8 hotkeys as the 1-8 songs memmed. You have to click and drag from your socials tab #7 and #8. Then i drag over sit and a macro that is just /stopsong

Overall takes like 5 seconds on zone, and only when in the zone you are going to be leveling.

What keys do you use for swapping hot bar pages?

I have multiple hot bars that I use but switching around between my primary and secondary slots hot keyed (versus DuxaUI) and a bag, as well as pet attack, back off, and stuff like loc, assist etc between every song seemed like more hassle than it was worth.

I'm open minded. Might be worth re-thinking. I use the original client (I think?) keys of shift+1,2,3 etc and shift+right click makes the client bug out occasionally which isn't pleasant when kiting :D

[Sizar]

I also use the Shift+1, Shift+2 etc.

I don't swarm but when I tried I created a fresh hotbar setup with enough hotkeys for the 4 or so songs i would be using plus the slots open for weapon/instrument swaps. Was kind of my swarming hotbar

[Tunabros]

tried out swarming in EK a bit

and wow my hand hurts and I died a few times >_>

[JDAm0nk]

tried out swarming in EK a bit

and wow my hand hurts and I died a few times >_>

One of us! :D

I've been having a silly amount of fun with my Bard.

Did 30-35 grouping in and outside of Paw. Managed to spawn a Quillmane solo (well, with the help of a very kind Necro who macro'd and told me when he was up) at 35 and got a Peggy Cloak on the first kill.

That's an Everquest first for me and an item I've always wanted - so I was/am super excited about that.

I also got my DE Illusion mask the day before, so after 35 went back to Kunark and got my OT Hammer. I did 35-40 at the giant fort in Frontier Mountains. I wanted to enjoy the last of my mana-free charm and I think that is a perfect spot for it. Great XP - more spawns than you can deal with, zone is almost always completely empty, and the loot isn't half bad with gems and a few drops that vendor for ~50pp.

I'll probably bounce between swarming in FV and charming/grouping in CoM until I am able to do Bloodgills in LoIO.

[Vivitron]

One of us! :D

I've been having a silly amount of fun with my Bard.

Did 30-35 grouping in and outside of Paw. Managed to spawn a Quillmane solo (well, with the help of a very kind Necro who macro'd and told me when he was up) at 35 and got a Peggy Cloak on the first kill.

That's an Everquest first for me and an item I've always wanted - so I was/am super excited about that.

I also got my DE Illusion mask the day before, so after 35 went back to Kunark and got my OT Hammer. I did 35-40 at the giant fort in Frontier Mountains. I wanted to enjoy the last of my mana-free charm and I think that is a perfect spot for it. Great XP - more spawns than you can deal with, zone is almost always completely empty, and the loot isn't half bad with gems and a few drops that vendor for ~50pp.

I'll probably bounce between swarming in FV and charming/grouping in CoM until I am able to do Bloodgills in LoIO.
I really loved solo charming on my bard 40 through 45. There are some camps with a level range of 33-37 mobs -- those are no-mana charms and blue through 45. Crystal caverns geonids, start at the zone out. Sol b greater kobolds; start at the sola zone line labelled C. Droga -- the hardest but my favorite; at first start on the bridge at the inner sanctum entrance. At 44 or so with good gear you can even solo the EoE.

[JDAm0nk]

I really loved solo charming on my bard 40 through 45. There are some camps with a level range of 33-37 mobs -- those are no-mana charms and blue through 45. Crystal caverns geonids, start at the zone out. Sol b greater kobolds; start at the sola zone line labelled C. Droga -- the hardest but my favorite; at first start on the bridge at the inner sanctum entrance. At 44 or so with good gear you can even solo the EoE.

Thank you for these stellar recommendations! All zones I haven't spent much time in, so I'll be sure to check them out.

It took me about six hours but I managed to farm a Bracer of the Hidden with my Bard. Getting prepared for Velks :D Still lots to see and do. Definitely working towards my Nostrolo Tambourine and I'd also like to quest the Ice Forged Shackles.

[pink grapefruit]

AE kiting (and real swarm kiting utilizing charm) is fun, but don't forget to practice the skills that actually make bards the OP class they are. I think targeting is harder on green so you'll need to get good with fewer tools. Weapon/instrument swapping, having a complete understanding of each song and when to use it, knowing when to lull/charm/mez, etc. Bluebies don't often think of resists outside of raids, but when up against caster NPCs bards can stack resists high af... or try to interrupt with Brusco's/mez.

You should be able to keep 2-3 NPCs locked down with mez and still manage a few weapon swings on the unmezzed target.

There's so much a bard can do it sorta hurts my soul to see people associate the class mostly with AE kiting lol.

[letdaddydoit]

Those videos on youtube did help me out. I had to use auto strafe with selos and was able to kite the hounds in East K no problem. Did die a few time but one I got it down it was easy.

[Toxigen]

how to properly bard:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1155754690

[Gustoo]

There's so much a bard can do it sorta hurts my soul to see people associate the class mostly with AE kiting lol.

It's really the obvious ultimate class in the game.

Still I hesitate to try to play one thinking about all the required button pushings.

[Sizar]

It's really the obvious ultimate class in the game.

Still I hesitate to try to play one thinking about all the required button pushings.

The button pushing is a bit overrated. It's not nearly that bad with the macro's you can make these days.

[JDAm0nk]

Droga -- the hardest but my favorite; at first start on the bridge at the inner sanctum entrance. At 44 or so with good gear you can even solo the EoE.

Man. Kudos to you for soloing in Droga! You weren't kidding about hard.

That zone melted me twice in two seconds flat. First time I got an add and after getting my corpse, tried again with two knights and promptly ate two harm touches.

I also tried to kill a scorpikis scrounger this morning and ate a few HTs there too. Live fast and die often I suppose :p

[Vivitron]

Man. Kudos to you for soloing in Droga! You weren't kidding about hard.

That zone melted me twice in two seconds flat. First time I got an add and after getting my corpse, tried again with two knights and promptly ate two harm touches.

I also tried to kill a scorpikis scrounger this morning and ate a few HTs there too. Live fast and die often I suppose :p

It's the hardest of the options I mentioned for sure. I found there wasn't enough room by the zone in, and bards don't have a good way to reset so fighting down by the bridge means losing a fight is either death or clicking a leatherfoot raider cap. Even down there the first kills are cramped, and you have to deal with the variety of casters and some lull splitting. In Crystal Caverns you get a zone line and melee npcs, and in Solb you get a zone line.

[JDAm0nk]

I hope it's okay to continue Bard talk here?

It's the hardest of the options I mentioned for sure. I found there wasn't enough room by the zone in, and bards don't have a good way to reset so fighting down by the bridge means losing a fight is either death or clicking a leatherfoot raider cap. Even down there the first kills are cramped, and you have to deal with the variety of casters and some lull splitting. In Crystal Caverns you get a zone line and melee npcs, and in Solb you get a zone line.

I did geonids in Crystal Caverns from 43-45. I had never spent any time in CC (only done the geonids in WL) and man - what a great camp!

8 evenly spaced spawns, perfect for charming. Really nice loot for the level too. I was able to afford a Walrus Skin Drum off this camp alone.

I did 46 and most of 47 at the giant fort in the Great Divide. I was a little worried the new charm was going to cause headaches but so far it hasn't been an issue. Getting a frost giant elite add could be a little draining, but not too bad overall. I was able to get the first two steps of my Coldain Shawl done and I killed enough giants to not be KOS in Skyshrine, which is a first for me.

Farmed the AC in OOT at 47 and got JBoots :) Another EQ first for me.

I managed to get my hands on SS gauntlets and I've done 47-51 at the Bloodgills in LoIO. Another fantastic camp and I've enjoyed how laid back it is.

It seems to be popular, especially with Druids and Wizards for quadding, but I haven't had an issue getting in during off hours. 50-51 took me about two hours of relaxed playtime. Pretty hard to beat!

[Vivitron]

I hope it's okay to continue Bard talk here?



I did geonids in Crystal Caverns from 43-45. I had never spent any time in CC (only done the geonids in WL) and man - what a great camp!

8 evenly spaced spawns, perfect for charming. Really nice loot for the level too. I was able to afford a Walrus Skin Drum off this camp alone.

I did 46 and most of 47 at the giant fort in the Great Divide. I was a little worried the new charm was going to cause headaches but so far it hasn't been an issue. Getting a frost giant elite add could be a little draining, but not too bad overall. I was able to get the first two steps of my Coldain Shawl done and I killed enough giants to not be KOS in Skyshrine, which is a first for me.

Farmed the AC in OOT at 47 and got JBoots :) Another EQ first for me.

I managed to get my hands on SS gauntlets and I've done 47-51 at the Bloodgills in LoIO. Another fantastic camp and I've enjoyed how laid back it is.

It seems to be popular, especially with Druids and Wizards for quadding, but I haven't had an issue getting in during off hours. 50-51 took me about two hours of relaxed playtime. Pretty hard to beat!

The Bloodgills sound like a nice spot.



54-57
Two from above
Raptors, TD: 15 blues on a 12 min timer! Nice swarm and afk exp avg of 10% hr til 57. Pull by tagging single on big island behind cliff, selos song of travel to small island socialing everything loop around to big island again and grab rest! Pbaoe snare and twist your two dots! Speed things up by target cycling through the viscious also hitting them with chant of flame for 33% of dmg to each.(Pro tip if Dinus spawns charm him and throw him at your social pack they will eat him down to 15-30% hp)



So far I have mostly grouped 46+, but would second this camp when you want to be near the fire pots. With jboots I triple dot instead of snaring. Downsides are no loot and cr is a pain if you don't have a pot bound cleric friend available.